These Years Feel Like An Eternity
by Innocent Eye of Blue
Summary: My new account, formerly known as "EmmOnasi" this is my new account, as I continue the story of CarthxScarrlet.
1. The King and Queen of a Shadow Land

Carth:

The weary Admiral sank down onto his bed with an exhausted groan ignoring the fact that he was still wearing his uniform.

Admiral Carth Onasi 'Republic war hero', 'praised warrior' 'a public celebrity' Carth had heard all of it time and time again it was all old to him even when it was new.

Carth had been just like any other soldier that is up until nearly five years ago when life was simple, made sense and sure as hell hadn't involved so much paper work. He flexed his fingers which were cramped from pushing pencils all after-noon and let another groan escape his lips. "Things were so much easier" he whispered up to the ceiling "before…"

Before he met that damned smuggler on the Endar Spire so many years ago and his life got turned inside- out upside down and just so complicated, he asked himself angrily and rolled over onto his side.

The bed creaked in response, the bed was too large considering the fact that he was the only one who used it and too cold for that same reason.

"No." He said to himself grimly "Not this again."

He pushed his thoughts aside and sat up to yank off his boots then the rest of his clothes and replaced them with a pair of sleep pants and an over-sized T-shirt.

His attention was brought back once again to the empty bed as he shivered slipping in between the chilled sheets and closed his eyes tightly, hoping sleep would come to him quickly for once but of course, he wasn't that lucky.

That 'smuggler' he mused, going back to his earlier thoughts and shook his head against his pillow "things were easier for the both of us back then, eh?" he said into the darkness.

That 'smuggler' who turned out to be a jedi then turns out that jedi was an ex-dark Lord of the Sith brainwashed into believing all this garbage the jedi council had rammed down her throat and made her their 'puppet' as some would put it.

He sighed, and who also turned out to be the other half of my broken soul he finished then looked over to the opposite side of the bed right where Scarrlet Veil belonged.

He never thought of her as 'Revan' anymore since she left the title behind her on the Star Forge when they destroyed it with her old apprentice Darth Malak already dead within.

Even then things were easier he admitted to himself, no matter how bad things would get he could always just reach out for Scarrlet and they would hold each other until things seemed better. But he let her go (physically, he doubted he would ever let her go emotionally ) to regions un-known to 'right' what had been wronged he guessed, he never got a real answer out of her as to why she had to go.

He remembered the last day they had together and from what he recalled he knew that something was not right as she acted more and more distant than usual, from the place she was, she was always distant, but that day felt so different. He remembered the next morning most of all, he woke up with a data-pad on her pillow the wedding ring he had given to her on their wedding day.

"Couldn't even say good-bye to my face?" he asked as if she were there and he felt the scab over the wound begin to peel again and he felt the same hurt he did as he scrolled through Scarrlet's message holding her ring in between his fingers and tears stinging his eyes.

He rolled over his hand resting on Scarrlet's pillow and his eyes shimmered as they fought off more tears.

He was close to sleep until her heard his door open he sat up and rubbed his face then yawned "hmm?" he asked into the darkness.

"Daddy?" the sweet little voice responded and Carth leaned over to turn on the lamp on his side table, wincing at the bright light "I'm right here, Princess." He assured and gave her a sweet smile.

There standing in his door-way holding a doll in her little hand was a tiny four-year-old girl with jet black, shoulder length hair and deep brown eyes, his eyes.

"I thought I just put you to bed, Adalia." He looked at his daughter she looks so much like her mother that it hurts, he thought to himself.

The child shuffled over to his bed-side and touched her soft, little hand to his large rough one and gently stroked his skin with her thumb. It amazed him how easily she picked up on things and he smiled at the fact that she was like Scarrlet in more than just one way.

"You forgot to tell me my good-night story." She said quietly.

"Oh, did I?" He asked and lifted his hand to pat the empty space in the middle of the bed, motioning for her to come up by him. She scooted up onto the bed and climbed over him then finally settled down underneath the blankets and Carth leaned over to turn the light off then snuggled up next to his her.

"Tell me the one about the King and Queen, Daddy." Adalia demanded tucking her head under his chin.

"Hmm. My favorite story." Carth whispered as Adalia poked absently at a hole in his T-shirt.

"Once upon a time" he began the story, he was never good at bed time stories, this one he made up on the spot, and turned out she loved it. Even though it was the corniest thing he ever heard himself say, "there was a king who had a beautiful wife and a precious son and he loved them very dearly. But one day it was time for the king to go to war against the bad people who were trying to destroy his world and all of the people in it, including his family so he fought for all of them proudly."

Adalia looked up at him and yawned he smiled then leaned down to kiss the top of her head.

"The king had fought long and hard for his people" Carth continued "and he and his soldiers were close to winning the battle. But the king was betrayed by his friend and they paid greatly for the man's betrayal. The palace had been attacked and the king wasn't there in time to rescue the Queen and the Prince… The Prince was taken and held as a hostage and the Queen had passed away from the enemy's fire..."

"Many years had passed and the king had kept on fighting for the people not only of his planet but many other planets alike. One day he had met a powerful woman who was the strongest of fighters and the bravest of the brave she and the king had become very good friends as they fought together in the war and over time they had fallen in love even though they were not meant to love each other. The woman was strong enough to destroy the evil across the galaxy helping people along the way and acquiring a few very good friends along in their adventures. Once the woman, with the help of her friends, killed the source of the evil the galaxy was a better place."

"The woman had agreed that she would become the King's wife and the king was so happy, he had forgotten how nice it felt to be happy, and he promised to love his new Queen forever and ever and she promised the same in return. After a few months they had lived out that promise and the Queen and King had a Daughter together, the perfect Princess, the King and Queen loved the Princess more than anything in the galaxy but the Queen had to go back to war even though she didn't want to… She did it for her husband and her beloved daughter promising she would one day return."

Adalia was fast asleep and Carth held her sleeping body against his chest, stroking her soft hair. "She did it for you Adalia… For you and me, Princess." He whispered quietly "she will be back here with us one day, she promised…"

He smiled at the ceiling painfully "just waiting for you to keep that promise now." He whispered and held his daughter until he fell asleep himself.

The next morning:

Carth had been jerked awake by a morning chill to see the blankets were stolen from him through the night he looked at Adalia to see the little girl had cocooned herself in the white sheets and her doll resting on his chest. "Cover hog" he chuckled to himself and got up shaking off the doll to go to the refresher.

He caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror and just stood there staring at the man who eyed him back as if he was expecting him to flinch away.

The man that stared back at him looked tired, even though he got to sleep in an extra hour on his day off of work and he had a light case of crow's feet and smile lines that decorated his handsome face.

His fingers raked through his hair which had a small hint of gray at his temples that mixed well with his brown hair. Then his fingers brushed over the stuble on his chin which hid the two ugly scars that he had achieved from the bombing on Telos.

He stepped into the shower shaking off the bad thoughts in the process.

Adalia:

Her bright blue eyes shimmered as she laughed, she has a pretty laugh, Adalia thought to herself, everything about this woman was beautiful.

She had dark hair, just like hers, and her skin was almost glowing due to her light skin tone. Adalia could see herself reach out to press her tiny fingers against the woman's chin, the woman smiled at her and held Adalia's hand against her deep red lips, still smiling.

She could hear her Father in the back-ground saying something but she couldn't make much sense out of his words as he stepped into view, but she could only focus on the beautiful woman as she cooed to her sweetly. "Adalia." The woman whispered quietly, even her voice was beautiful "Adalia" she crooned again and stroked her cheek tenderly.

Then as quickly as the dream came to her it was gone, she opened her eyes to her father's empty room with a frown on her face.

She had the same dream every once in a while which had always brought back the same question, who was the beautiful woman who had once held her close?

She was always in her mind and the need to see her again felt unbearable, she didn't know who the woman was, but every time she would see her in her dreams she felt safe and loved in her gentle hold.

"They're just dreams, Addie," she remembered her father telling her once when she had awoken from a very vivid nightmare with a loud scream "they are not real!" He told her firmly, holding her close to him.

"But-it was- REAL, D-daddy!" She wailed in between sobs and buried her head against his chest, she had dreamt of the woman, as she usually would, but she wasn't kind and beautiful like she always was. She was actually the complete opposite, she remembered in her dream that she was hurting people, a lot of people…

She sat up, the sheets tangled around her body, she didn't like the woman when she was so full of anger, she liked the nice dreams about the beautiful woman who had once held her close…

She crawled out of Carths' large bed, taking her doll with her, and walked back to her room wondering what Daddy was going to make for breakfast.

Carth:

Carth stood in his kitchen washing up the dishes from dinner while he watched Adalia talk excitedly with Mission, who came to visit for the day before she left Cidatel again to return to Kashyyk.

She sat on the floor with Adalia in her lap while they flipped through one of her picture books, the one that was full of pictures of how Telos was before it was attacked.

Carth smiled down at them as he walked into the room and sat down in his chair with a cup of juma juice in hand, he had always considered Mission as his daughter even though she sure as hell didn't look like a kid anymore… She was nearly nine-teen now and reached his chin in height but, her smart mouth was never out grown. And she was obviously gorgeous… He remembered having to flash the blaster in his holster a few times at the cantina to scare off the men who would ogle her while they had dinner a few weeks ago.

"Daddy told me that these were his favorite kinds of flowers." Adalia told Mission, pointing to the Telosian lilacs in the book, Mission smiled gently at the scarlet colored plant, knowing why they were Carths' favorite.

He continued to watch them so Mission had decided to just let it go "Mhmm. Very pretty." She mused as Adalia continued through the book.

Carth was stressed, and Mission wasn't oblivious to that fact, her brow furrowed because she knew that there was nothing she could do to help him out. It would be harder to stay in close contact since she was leaving in a few hours to go back to Kashyyk where Zaalabar was, of course she loved Carth and Adalia but she could only take so much of Cidatel station.

After Carth had put Adalia to bed and her and Mission said their good-bye's, he sank back down into his chair to face Mission who was sitting on the couch across from him with a concerned expression on her face.

"C'mon, Mish," he gave her a lazy smile "don't you worry about this old geezer."

"Carth," she complained worriedly, her dark, almond shaped eyes glimmered.

She was the only person who called her Carth now-a-days and he loved the sound of it, he was pretty sick of 'Admiral Onasi'.

"I'm worried about her, Carth…" She sighed turning her head towards the freshly dented wall in the kitchen.

At dinner Carth had kept on badgering Adalia to eat her vegetables when that temper of hers set off and collided with his.

A simple child-like act, she never did like the Telosian greens he tried to feed to her.

"Adalia, just eat them" he had demanded "or, no dessert."

"No, no, no, no, nooo!" She cried hitting the table with her tiny fists.

She never got that angry, Carth thought to himself, she had never gotten upset like that before. When Adalia had let go of all of her anger the bowl of vegetables in front of her went soaring off of the table and across the room without any one touching it, to hit the wall with a loud crash.

Mission and Carth froze and stared wide eyed at the four-year-old who's temper tantrum had far exceeded what they could have imagined.

Adalias' hands flew to her mouth as she saw what she had done, she couldn't have possibly understood but nonetheless she began to cry, loudly. "S-s-sorry," she wailed brokenly "D-daddy-y!" Carth immediately rushed over to her and held her trying to soothe her, whispering gently and kissing her face.

""It's okay, Princess" he said rocking her "s'okay." He and Mission had exchanged glances before she got up to go find a broom.

"Look" Mission sighed "I know how rough things are for ya, Carth. Believe me I do but-"

"But, what?" he asked, his head slumped back and his eyes slid to a close "I never claimed that my life was perfect."

"Hey, don't you get grumpy with me, Mister!" She snapped, her head-tails bobbing "All I wanna do is help and I can see that there isn't anything I can do!"

"No," he responded "there isn't."

He looked up to see her arms crossed over her chest as she glared at him, he burst out laughing "I'm joking! Geeze, lighten up, kid."

She rolled her eyes "Ha-ha." She snorted "You've got a pretty grim sense of humor old man."

"Mhmm." He mumbled "Comes with age."

She was quiet for a few minutes until "Maybe-maybe if you talk to Bastila-"

"No." Carth snapped and sat on the edge of his seat, staring Mission in the eye "I am not sending my daughter to a bunch of 'jedi'."

Mission went quiet again.

He had always known that Adalia was a force sensitive he just never wanted to deal with her 'condition' alone (and he would never send her to some enclave with a bunch of jedi attempting to re-build 'order' ). He sneered at himself for his choice of words, talking like the kid has a disease, he thought to himself.

"I'm sorry." He said gently after a few minutes "I-I just- I can't lose her, too…" Carth sighed quietly and sipped at his juma juice, pain decorating his eyes.

"S'okay." She said quietly, her eyes glued to the marble floor.

Then they were both silent for what seemed like an eternity.

"I miss her too, Carth." She said walking over to sit on the arm of his chair and rest her hand on the middle of his back.

He nodded slightly "It's getting late. You don't want to miss your flight, do you?" Carth sat up straight and gave Missions knee a pat.

"Yeah." She mumbled getting up and faced him extending her arms wide apart "Not gonna hug myself, am I?"

Hugs were never needed between them before, but reality had hit them, and they never knew if this visit would be their last.

Carth chuckled and stood up to give Mission a big-Wookie hug, picking her up off the ground "Don't let that mouth of yours get you in trouble… Again."

"Me?" She said sarcastically "Getting my-self in trouble? Oh, please!" She laughed and Carth stood her back up onto her feet. "Don't let that kid give you anymore gray hairs, Buddy." She playfully punched his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm sure she's the only one giving them to me!" He rolled his eyes and walked with her across the room his arm wrapped around her shoulder.

"I'll see you soon, Carth." Mission said with a smile.

"Soon." He repeated and watched as she walked away from his apartment.

The new TSF officer that guarded his home watched after her too and looked back at Carth as if to say 'nice catch' and Carth glared at him and reflexively reached for his blaster, realizing he didn't have it on him. The officer flinched away and pretended to be busy with his communicator watch.

Carth closed his door behind him, locked it and walked back to his bed-room in silence, he crawled under the chilled covers of his over-sized bed dressed in only his sleep pants.

His mind drifted back to dinner, what was he going to do? He frowned up at the ceiling. Scarrlet would know what to do, he thought, "Dammit, woman." He groaned "Couldn't even leave me an instruction manual?" He rolled over and drifted off to sleep.


	2. A cry for Help

Carth:

He stared out the window of his office absently tapping his pen against his desk, a nervous habit, he supposed.

His desks' comm buzzed and he heard his secretary, Zerre inform "Admiral, your daughter has arrived from school."

"Thank you, Zerre. Send her in please." He responded automatically.

He watched Adalia skip into his office with her back-pack on and smiled as her hair bounced in her two pig-tails "Hi, Daddy!" She smiled.

Carth patted his thigh and she crawled up onto his lap.

"Hey, Princess. How was school?" He asked.

"Boring." She smiled at him then reached to pull off her back-pack.

He chuckled "what't'cha got there?" He asked as she pulled out papers from her bag.

"I made pictures today." She handed them to him "Do you like it?"

Carth almost gasped but he stopped himself, he stared at the picture then his daughter "Who-who is this?" He pointed to the black haired woman holding two lightsabers in the drawing, a green saber and one blue to be exact…

She shrugged her shoulders "I don't know who she is." She admitted and jumped off of Carths' lap to skip across the room to look into the fish tank full of exotic fish and tapped at the glass.

Carth flipped through the drawings, the woman re appearing in each of them and then the last one was the one that caught his attention most of all… It was a black cloaked person with, his eyes widened, a red mask and glowing red lightsaber..

It's getting worse. It never used to be this intense, she'd mention a few things that hinted towards her knowing Scarrlet, but this was really a slap in the face.

He looked over at his daughter "Are you sure, Adalia?" His voice was just barely above a whisper "You-you don't know who this person is?"

She shook her head "Nope." She said "I only see her when I dream." She looked at him innocently.

He shoved the pictures back into her bag then stood up slinging it over his shoulder. "C'mon," he told her, reaching for her hand.

She looked at him a bit confused "Daddy, what's wrong?" She took his hand.

"Nothing. Everything is fine, Sweetie." They walked out to the lobby and said to Zerre who was sitting at her desk. "Cancel my later appointments."

"Are-are you sure, Sir?" She looked at him with her bright green eyes, confused "Since when do you turn in early?"

"When I need to, goodbye, Zerre." He said impatiently.

"Wait, wait a second!" She jumped up from her seat and stood in front of him. "I just, I wanted to…" She trailed off twirling her blonde hair around one finger and looked down at Carths' boots.

Carth looked at her a bit irritated now. "What is it, Zerre?"

"I just thought that maybe-maybe you wanted to go and get a drink or have dinner. You know, some time when you aren't busy." She gave him a small smile, looking up from under her lashes.

"No." He said and he saw the hurt look on her face "I'm sorry it's just that…" He smiled slightly and gestured to Adalia who was clinging to his arm "I've got a lot on my plate." He was a bit tired of her attempts but no matter how many times he would shoot her down she came back up. She was a good person but he couldn't get it through the young girls' mind that he wasn't interested.

"No, it's alright." Her shoulders slumped and she bit down on her lip "I'll-I can finish up the papers for the Z-K-9925 act for you." She offered.

"That would be great, Zerre. Thank you." He told her as he walked with Adalia out into the hall.

"Daddy?" She asked and poked his knee while they walked.

"Yes, Princess?" he asked still not giving anything a hundred percent of his attention.

"Why does Zerre always want to buy you food?" She asked.

He laughed and tousled her hair with his free hand. "Don't know, Gorgeous."

She nodded "Maybe she just thinks you look hungry." She suggested.

He laughed again "Maybe, Princess, maybe."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"I just-I don't know what to do, Jolee." Carth was pacing in his room talking to Jolee Bindo over the communicator "I know she 'sees' things in her dreams…"

"Sound familiar to ya, Sonny?" He asked "Now hold still, boy! Pacin' around aint gonna do anything besides make me go cross-eyed."

"There isn't anything you can do?" He demanded raking his hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry. I'm no jedi Master, I don't know how to help her, I wish I did but I don't." He shrugged. "But I'm not the only jedi you know, now am I?"

"Dammit." He groaned and slumped down onto his bed "You've been talking with Mission, haven't you?"

"Actually, yes. But she did have a good point." He rolled his eyes at Caths' glare. "I'm not sayin' you have to send Adalia packing. It wouldn't be a bad idea to just talk to Bastila though."

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, he knew that he was going to have no choice.

"I don't think she can keep goin' on like this, by the sounds of it she'll master training by the time she's ten."

"She's not doing any training." He snapped "We're-we just need to get through these-these 'visions' and try to figure some things out."

"Sonny, be in denial all you want but I think we both know what would be better for her. Bahh, don't listen to an old mans' 'wisdom'." He waved his hand "You won't listen anyways. Now go swallow your pride and talk with 'Master Shann', boy."

He rubbed the back of his neck "Thank you, Jolee." He knew how this was going to turn out so he decided to skip to the end…

That caught Jolee by surprise, these past few years had really worn him down and it was a little sad to see. "Sure thing, kid."

The communicator went silent and Jolee disappeared from view.

He groaned and fell onto his back slinging his arm over his eyes. "Time to swallow my pride, eh?" He said to the ceiling "That's a new one."

Adalia:

She absently poked at her food as she sat with her Father at the dinner table while he was bent over a pile of files he had brought home from work and occasionally would take a random piece of food from his plate and pop it into his mouth.

She turned her head to the dent in the wall she made a few days ago "Daddy?" She asked.

"Hmm?" He asked without lifting his head.

"Am I a bad person?" She asked with a very serious look on her face.

Carth dropped his fork and stared wide eyed at her his mouth gapping open. "How could you ask something like that?"

She looked at him with a shrug then went back to staring at the dent. "When I do the 'bad' things I-I break everything and make you sad, Daddy…" She whispered "Then I feel sad because I make you upset."

"Hey, you listen to me." He said firmly and grabbed her shoulders so that she would face him "You have special ability's and that does not make you a bad person. You should be proud of what you can do, things may happen that you don't have any power over but I am going to help you control these things, okay?" He shook her gently when she didn't answer. "Okay?" He repeated

She nodded and a few tears fell from her eyes. "Kay, Daddy." She sniffled.

"Come here, Princess." He patted his knee and she ran over to him. "It'll be okay." He stroked her hair gently.

She held onto her father for comfort but couldn't understand how she couldn't be a bad person. She had watched the woman in her dreams do the same things that she could when she hurt people.

But she had also seen the woman as a good person, what could she do stop herself from being a bad person?

She closed her eyes and buried her face against Carths' neck with another sniffle "Don't let me be a bad person, Daddy." She begged.

That made his heart want to burst in pain. "Never, you will never be a bad person…" He felt tears sting in his eyes and held her tighter against his chest, he knew for sure now what he needed to do now.

Carth:

Carth anxiously sat in his chair tapping his fingers against his knee, what was taking so long?

He glanced at Adalias' bedroom door then back to his wrist watch, Bastila had agreed to come and talk with him and Adalia but they had been there in her room for almost an hour now.

"Anytime, now." He said impatiently then stood up to start pacing again.

A few minutes later they stepped out of the room and walked over to Carth. "How'd it go?" He asked anxiously as he picked up Adalia when she lifted her arms to him.

"She is very strong in the force, Carth." Bastila said calmly, never showed any emotion the whole time she was here, Carth thought. "She is way beyond her age expectations." She gave a gentle smile to Adalia who smiled back.

"Master Shann showed me ways to control the bad things that can happen." Adalia announced proudly.

"That's great, Princess." He smiled at her and kissed the tip of her nose.

"How about you go and play in your room, Adalia." Bastila suggested "So I can speak with your father."

He let her back down and she skipped along to her bed room, he watched his innocent little girl with a frown on his face, he knew where this conversation was going to lead.

"Admiral." Bastila said gently and sat down on the couch and Carth followed her lead sitting back down on his chair, sitting on the edge with his elbows on his knees and his hands folded.

"'Master Shann'" He said with a raised eye brow.

"I believe you are aware of her situation and I'm positive you already know what I will suggest to you and I already know your answer." She said fixing her dress. "And I wouldn't bother asking…"

Carth nearly laughed his head off when he saw Bastila had arrive wearing a very 'un-jedi like' dress that was very revealing, "I'm undercover! I'm not supposed to be here." She had explained when he stared wide eyed at her.

"But" she interrupted him before he could speak "this is a very different case." She explained.

"All I'm asking for is a little advice and any help you can give." Carth said firmly.

"Admiral Onasi, you have witnessed what she can do when she loses control." She said "If you were doing what was best for her you would give her the opportunity to learn how to control her emotions."

"Her emotions are just fine." He said "Will you please, Bastila, for old time's sake, help us?" He whispered.

Bastila opened her mouth then closed it, she had never seen Carth so desperate it had caught her off guard. "There-there isn't much that I can do without her coming to the academy."

"There isn't anything else?" He pressed on "There has to be something, Bastila please, I don't know what else to do. I have nowhere else to turn."

She felt pity for him, she knew how rough he had it ever since Revan had left unexpectedly.

She looked over the weary man with careful eyes, he may have not shown it on the outside but he was a real wreck. "I promise I will try to come and visit as often as I can, I will help you when you need it but I cannot make all of the problems go away. I'm sorry."

He nodded and was quiet for a few minutes.

"Did-did you find anything more about her dreams?" He asked quietly.

"Visions" she corrected him "I believe that is sharing in her mothers' memories."

"Can that help us find her?" He asked anxiously "I mean can she-can she 'speak' with her through the visions?"

"No. These, I believe are Revans' memories that she is subconsciously sending to her the easiest way she can; through her dreams." She explained "And Adalia is even sending some of her own memories to Revan."

"She has a bond with her?" Carth asked.

"No. I don't believe so, if they were bonded Adalia would also share a bond with me even though Revan has blocked me out completely, our bond is still there." She continued to explain "They are almost… connected. I do not know how to explain it, it is almost as if when Adalia was conceived a part of Revans' spiritual being was given to her."

He stared at her wrapping his head around this information. "So that means she isn't 'just' force sensitive." He stated.

Bastila shook her head "It's much stronger than that."

Carth rubbed his temples with his index fingers and shut his eyes tightly.

"She is in a very vulnerable spot" She said "And we both know the consequences of an untrained jedi…"

"I-I need some time to think this over." He whispered "Thank you, Bastila."

The man that looked back at her was broken and she frowned knowing that she had done nothing to help him.

She nodded "I'll show myself to the door." She stood to leave. "Feel free to call anytime you need." She added.

He was silent, a few minutes after Bastila had left he brought himself up to his feet and walked to Adalias' room.

He watched his little girl as she played with her dolls, her back to him, and he leaned against her doorway with his brow furrowed.

How could he leave his daughter to lead the emotionless lonely life of a jedi? But how could he be so selfish that he wouldn't let her go where she was better off for her own well-being?

"Again, with that instruction manual." He mouthed then closed his eyes and just listened to Adalia, sweet little Adalia playing with her toys.


	3. Under Attack Again

Carth:

Under attack? How could we be under attack again? Hasn't Telos taken enough shit from the Sith already?

Many questions rushed through Carth Onasis' mind as he raced down the hall to his office with Adalia trembling in his arms. The loud "run for your lives and take cover" alarm had woken them up from a peaceful night of sleep.

He heard the gun fire before he saw it, he turned his head and saw sith, a sith here a sith there sith everywhere, almost as if they were coming from out of the shadows.

"Daddy!" Adalia squealed fearfully clinging to him.

"Hide your face!" He yelled and she tucked her head under his shoulder, if the sith were to shoot at them they would only hit him at least.

He ran faster and made it to his office lobby with commander Grenn and a handful of TSF officers already there. "Grenn, what the hell is going on?" Carth asked.

"Sith war-ship decided to pay us a visit. Probably after the fuel shipments we just got." Grenn figured "I need two parties to follow me to the docking bay, now." He commanded.

"Be careful." Carth told Grenn before he left.

"Always am." He retorted.

He looked over to see Zerre cowering behind her desk. "Admiral, what are we to do?"

"You are going to take Adalia" He handed his daughter off to her "and you will go into the safe room in my office." He said precisely.

Carth turned for the door.

"Daddy, no!" Adalia wailed and reached out for him again. "Don't leave, Daddy please!"

"I have to go, Princess. I'll be back I swear to you, I will." He held one of her outstretched hands for one moment looking longingly into her eyes. "I'll be back." He repeated then walked out the door.

Adalia:

Zerre was holding her closer and closer every time they heard a loud BANG that sounded like bombs going off.

How could she let her Daddy go off alone? She could feel the angry and dark energy just swirling around the entire station as soon as she woke up, she shouldn't have let him go…

She tried to concentrate on her Father and attempted to reach out to him to be sure he was okay.

"You can do anything if you really concentrate, Adalia." She remembered master Shann telling her when they were alone in her bedroom. "Through the force you could move an object across the room or even touch another person's mind…"

"Daddy," she called out through her mind.

"Down you go!" Carth yelled as he shot off his blasters at an attacking sith.

She could hear him, she could feel his mind.

She held her breath, "Daddy, be safe." She said to him silently and she felt something 'push' from her body and go out to protect his, almost as if it were a shield- a 'force' shield.

"Be safe, be safe." She chanted to herself.

Carth:

He immediately took notice that something was different as he continued to shoot down more sith.

He looked down to reload his blasters and was shocked to see that his skin was almost… glowing. He only took a fraction of a second to look then he was back into attack mode when he heard. "Watch it, Admiral!" From one of the TSF officers behind him.

He turned just in time to watch as a bullet from the enemies fire had hit him in the chest and simply bounced off of him and returned back to the sith that had shot at him.

He couldn't believe it, he stared in disbelief at his chest for a second. He hadn't been wearing any kind of armor or even had a shield for that matter.

"Be safe…" He heard a faint little voice in his head as he continued to attack the sith fighters. Adalia. His daughter was protecting him.

He almost laughed out loud at the thought of a four-year-old girl protecting a forty two year old man, but nonetheless, he was grateful towards his daughter and proud of her.

"Admiral, we have some back up!" His wrist comm buzzed.

"Who?" Carth asked Grenn while he shot away at the remaining sith.

"The Ebon Hawk crew. The exile is here." He said and heard gunfire from his side of the comm too.

Carth was hopeful and he slightly smiled as he ran back towards his office shooting down the sith that got in his way a bit more carelessly now that he had his own personal shield protecting him.

Adalia:

"Be safe, be safe, be safe…" She continued to chant in her head, she was completely exhausted from pushing herself to the limit to keep her father safe from un-known opponents.

The door to the safe room was flung open and Zerre gave a relived cry when she saw that it was Carth.

"Adalia." He said concerned, he found her curled up into a ball with her eyes closed tightly and her hands balled into fists."Adalia!" He said again and ran to her lifting her off of the ground.

"She's been like that for over half an hour! I-I didn't know what to do! I was so scared Carth…" Zerre trailed off but Carth gave no notice to her.

"Adalia, I'm here. We're safe, everything's alright!" He rubbed her back and sighed in relief when her tensed body had relaxed against his and she let out a soft groan.

"You were amazing." He said into her ear and she lazily wrapped her arms around his neck, Daddy was safe in her arms and everything was going to be okay… She closed her eyes giving into her drooping lids.

Carth:

His daughter had collapsed from exhaustion in his arms and he held her tightly for a moment then turned to Zerre. "I will walk you back to my apartment." He told her "You guys will be safe there until the battle is over." He assured.

She nodded in agreement and followed him back to his house he laid the sleeping girl in her bed and walked back out to the living room where Zerre was.

"I've called for some TSF officers come over to guard the door and I'll be back soon." He told her and she nodded again and slumped down on Carths' chair then he was off and out the door.

Adalia:

Adalia watched the beautiful woman as she sat in the middle of a dark room with her legs crossed and her eyes closed.

This dream felt different from all the rest she almost felt as if she were there standing in the room with her.

She felt completely calm around her and she felt an urge to try something, if it worked on her father maybe she could reach out to the woman too, she had figured…

"Hello?" She thought to her, trying to reach out through her mind.

The woman continued as if nothing happened but then Adalia heard her thoughts. "…miss you, miss you so much…"

The woman had a small frown on her face as if she knew someone had been invading her mind.

The dream had left her and but she continued sleeping, disappointment in her heart.

Carth:

Carth had spoken with the exile before she had left to finish her own mission and he walked back to his apartment with a hopeful look on his face, his own words ringing through his ears. "Simply tell her," he turned to look at the brown haired hazel eyed woman looking back at him. "That Carth Onasi is waiting for her…"

Terra Mae was going to find his Scarrlet, he couldn't stop thinking about that fact, he just knew she would be able to find her.

He nodded to the two TSF officers who guarded his door then entered his apartment to see Zerre standing in the kitchen absently looking over the many pictures that hung on the walls.

"Thank you, Zerre for keeping an eye on Adalia for me. I really appreciate it." He said to her and she turned back to him with a smile.

"Of course, Sir!" She gave him a playful salute.

"I-it's getting pretty late…" He said hoping she would take the hint to leave, he was exhausted all he wanted to do was crawl into bed.

"Oh." Was all she said and she quietly twirled a strand of hair around her finger.

"I could have a TSF officer walk you home if you'd-" he was cut off by Zerre who had flung herself into his arms.

"Oh, Admiral please! I'm still frightened I don't want to have to be alone." She wailed to him wrapping her arms around his strong neck.

"It-It's okay, Zerre. I promise." He tried to maneuver himself out of the twenty three year old woman's clingy hold.

"Carth," she begged gently and pressed her body against his eying him meaningfully and gently stroked the side of his handsome face.

She slowly leaned her face closer to his offering him her lips.

"Zerre, no." He said firmly, he had never been this close to anyone since Scarrlet left…

"Why not?" She asked, seductively pressing her chest against his. "Carth, I know how to show you a good time." She gave him a sly smile and a wink. "I know how lonely you are..."

"No." He said again pushing her away from him. "I-I can't do this."

The wedding ring on his finger almost burned against his skin. "You should leave, Zerre."

Tears of rejection began to swell in her eyes.

"I can't I'm sorry, Zerre. You are a wonderful person, really, you are but I'm in love with someone else." His eyes dropped back down to his wedding ring.

"Oh," she said, he knew he hurt her but she needed to hear the truth once and for all. "I-I'm sorry, Sir…"

"I-I'll just see you tomorrow then." She said quietly then left.

He walked down the hall, feeling the impact of today hitting him with each step he took, and stopped in front of his daughter's room, to see her sleeping soundly.

He glanced over at the alarm clock on her dresser, it was nearly five in the morning and he decided maybe a few cups of juma juice wouldn't hurt before he went to bed…

Months had passed by and Adalia's force abilities progressed at a rapid pace, Carth wasn't sure how much longer he could push the limits as to how long he could keep her out of the jedi academy.

"Well then don't send her off if you don't want her to." Dustil said simply as he and Carth talked over the communicator, he and Dustil still stayed in contact and Dustil promised to call every week when he left to "find his purpose". And right now that 'purpose' was to take care of some girl he found at a cantina on Tatooine.

Whatever makes him happy, he had rolled his eyes, that kid had a few more lessons to learn and it wasn't always going to be Carth who taught them to him…

"It's not that easy, Dustil. If I don't send her she will be deprived of the training she needs. But I'm too selfish to send her away from me…" He admitted with a sigh.

"Hey, you've got your right to be selfish with your own kid." He said "I for one don't want her to be sent off either."

"DUSTY!" Carth turned to see Adalia running to the comm excitedly.

"Hey, Dilley Dallie!" Dustil smiled at her.

"I miss you, Dusty. When will you come back home, brother?" She jumped onto Carths' lap so she could get a better view of her half-brother.

"I'll be back in a few months." He promised. "Are you taking good care of Dad?" He asked.

"Mhmm." She responded and patted Carth's knee with a smile on her face.

Dustil turned his head as if someone was talking to him.

"Hey, I gotta get goin', okay?" He said. "Love you both, I'll call you later."

"Bye, son." Carth said looking at his boy longingly.

"Bye, bye, Dusty." Adalia said sadly then kissed her hand blowing the kiss to the holo-gram of Dustil and he caught the kiss touching his hand to his cheek before he turned off the comm.

They sat there together for a moment until he heard Adalia sniffle.

"Princess, what's wrong?" He asked holding her chin between his thumb and finger to turn her head to face him.

Tears had spilled over and were soaking her rosy cheeks. "Why did he have to leave, Daddy?" she asked quietly.

His heart ached for his little girl, people just kept coming and leaving in her little life and she never knew how to deal with the loss… "He'll be back, Princess. He promised." He assured wiping away her tears with his thumb.

This, she had gotten from him, never knowing how to cope with the absence of someone he loved.

He knew the root of this problem for her was Scarrlet, her mother, his wife, the missing piece in both of their hearts and he couldn't do anything to fix it…

He held her close. "She promised." He whispered against her hair so quietly that she didn't hear him


	4. Birthday

Carth:

He watched Adalia as she anxiously walked from the dinner table to re-arrange the snacks they had made then back to the front door waiting for someone to knock.

"Sweetie, it's still early." He chuckled as he lounged in his chair and watched her repeat her rounds a few more times.

"I know." She sighed then walked over to Carth to stand in front of him. "How do I look, Daddy?" She asked fidgeting with her hair that was braided at either side of her head, which looked pretty good considering that he had never made a braid in his life before this morning and he even fixed a white bow into one of them.

He tapped his chin as if he were thinking it over, she was wearing a sleeveless, knee high purple dress with grey leggings and black boots.

"Looks to me like you're about to jump right out of your skin…" He smirked "Other than that, absolutely gorgeous, Birthday Girl."

She rolled her eyes then smiled at the goofy face he made at her. "Thank you, Daddy!" She giggled then continued where she left off: re-arranging the candy bowl, finding a place for it so that she could get easier access for her sugar tooth.

A few minutes later she ran to the door when there was a light tapping "Mission!" She cried even before she opened it.

Definitely progressing, he thought to himself as he felt an automatic pang of fear hit him like it would every time she unexpectedly used the force.

Don't ruin the five-year-olds birthday, he told himself grimly then forced a smile onto his face when Mission walked in with presents in her arms and Jolee Bindo right behind her.

"Mission!" Adalia cried again and hugged her leg tightly.

"Hey there, Kiddo!" She laughed. "Happy birthday."

"Glad you guys could make it." Carth said standing up to greet them.

"Eh. What else could an old man do who has too much free time on his hands?" He gave Carths' back a pat then said to Adalia "Happy birthday, kid, and many more."

She smiled her signature smile that could melt hearts. "Thank you, Jolee." Then showed their guests to the snack table where Jolee gladly followed.

They sat in the living room chatting and sharing laughs until there was another knock at the door then Dustil came barging in with at least five presents in his arms blocking his face from view. "Happy birthday to my favorite little sister!" He exclaimed as he brought the gifts over to the kitchen counter.

"Dusty!" She squealed and jumped into his outstretched arms to hug him tightly.

"You spoil that kid to no end!" He laughed and stood up to wrap his arm around Dustils' shoulders. "Nice to see you, son."

"You too, Pops" he smirked and poked Adalia in the rib-cage. "What has he been feedin' ya?" You're ten times bigger than the last time I've seen you."

She giggled and squirmed as he continued to poke her then put her back down onto her feet.

"Ready for cake now that everyone's here?" Carth asked.

"Yes." Jolee answered automatically as he joined them in the kitchen.

"I was asking the birthday girl." He laughed.

"I'll answer for her then. Yes." He said and Adalia laughed while Carth rolled his eyes.

"Hey, old man haven't you had enough to eat yet?" Mission asked walking in to lean against the counter.

"Why, hello there." Dustil grinned looking the twilek from head to toe.

"Oh not this again, lover boy, haven't I turned you down enough since last year?" She said jokingly.

"Hey," he wagged his eye-brows playfully. "Can't keep an Onasi man down-."

"Definitely time for cake." Carth said stopping the two love-birds before things got out of hand then lifted Adalia up into his arms taking her to the counter with the large, pink cake with white flowers and five candles on top.

Carth grabbed lighter from off of the counter and began to light each candle, remembering each birthday as he went and realized that her mother wasn't there for a single one of them…

Don't ruin this for her you idiot, Carth thought to himself then put his smile back on. It's her birthday, her special day…

Adalia:

She watched the flames on her birthday cake as everyone around her sang "Happy Birthday" with smiles on their faces.

Everything was so perfect and she never wanted this moment to end.

She leaned forward when they had finished and closed her eyes never wanting to lose this feeling of complete belonging in the place that she was loved…

She blew out the candles and the crowd burst into applause, Carth leaned forward to kiss her rosy cheek "Happy birthday, Adalia." He whispered against her skin.

Carth:

They all watched Adalia as she played excitedly with her new presents, they all lounged in the living room, still chit chatting. Nothing serious, just the way it needed to be around Adalia.

Mission had gotten her a bracelet and Adalia eyed the oddly shaped charms on it. "Those will let you slice through any door in the galaxy." Mission told her, proud of her work.

Carth had to thank her for that one later…

Dustil got her several toys from stuffed animals to dolls and a miniature ship that he made himself for her dolls.

Jolee had gotten her a pile of books that were full of pictures from all over the galaxy, she finally had some new bed-time reading material.

And Carth, he had bought her a custom, light blue fabric choker necklace with a dark blue precious gem hanging from it.

He turned his head to Adalia who was playing with her new toys and then looked over to Dustil who was still annoying the hell out of Mission as the lounged on the couch, he never got to spend time with Dustil like he does every day with Adalia and he still blamed himself for not being there for him when he most needed him even though Dustil had already forgiven him on many occasions.

But Dustil wasn't his 'boy' anymore, he was a twenty-two year old man ( flirting with anything that moved ) and he almost couldn't believe how quickly he had grown up.

It wasn't until he had watched his daughter blow out her birthday candles did he realize that his baby girl was growing up too and someone else is missing out this time…

Don't ruin this for her, he told himself for the hundredth time. Not today, not on her special day…

Adalia:

She slept soundly after everyone had left the party and drifted slowly into a dream, a very familiar dream that she only had once a year but still one of her favorites.

She sat on the surface of Telos, the place where her Daddy would take her every once in a while when they could get out of Citadel station to go and have a picnic and just enjoy the fresh air.

But this time she wasn't with her father, she sat under a large tree with the beautiful woman holding Adalia close to her, her head slumped against the woman's shoulder soaking in the peace that just seemed to roll off of her.

"Happy Birthday, Adalia." The woman whispered, her voice didn't sound like it was there, more like way off in the distance echoing off of the grand mountains. "I love you so much, sweet-heart."

Then there would be no more talking, they just sat there together holding each other close never wanting to leave this small piece of heaven that they had shared, everything perfect, everything peaceful.

She turned her head to the woman several hours later knowing that the woman couldn't stay for much longer.

She held Adalia's chin in her warm hand and leaned down to kiss the tip of her nose then looked meaningfully into her eyes as the perfect scene had begun to fade away, as it always would and left her alone and in the darkness of her bedroom.


	5. The Exile Returns

Carth:

"Clear your mind, Adalia." Bastila told her, keeping her eyes closed as she sat cross legged in the middle of Carths' living room floor. "Focus on your breathing, keep calm, keep an opened mind…" She trailed off.

Carth watched intently at Adalia who was mirroring Bastilas' pose and would peek up from under her lashes to see if her master had noticed her squirming.

"She is way ahead of where I was when I was her age." Juhani told Carth quietly.

Carth had to keep himself from sighing when he saw her for the first time in years since she left to join Bastila, sadly Bastila had fully trained her to control herself and wipe away the rest of her free will…

Stop it, he had to tell himself, they need to keep their emotions in check…

He grunted. "Wonder where she gets it from…" He said flatly and eyed the cathar with a blank look.

She averted her bright yellow eyes and feeling self-conscience under his glare, she roved her hands over her clothes, she was wearing an identical dress as Bastilas' which, in his opinion, would attract more attention than dismiss…

Juhani uneasily squirmed in her seat.

"I'm sorry." Carth went back to watching his daughter attempt to meditate "Ignore the cranky old man. You don't deserve any bashing." He trailed off and lazily leaned back in his chair.

"I understand, Admiral." She said calmly in her deep-throated accent.

Carth hadn't been pleasant the entire time the two jedi had been in his apartment and Juhani easily understood why, they were the 'enemy', the 'enemy' who wanted to take his daughter away from him. She smiled slightly, same old over-protective Carth, she thought to herself.

"Master Shann?" Adalia asked, giving up on her meditation.

"Yes?" She asked opening her eyes to look at the girls extended hand.

"Do all jedi get to have glowing swords?" She pointed to Bastilas' lightsaber that was hooked to her belt.

"Light saber." She corrected her. "And only trained jedi get them."

"Will I ever get one Master Shann?" She asked eagerly, a smile lighting up her face.

"Well-" She was interrupted by an angry Carth.

"No." He snapped, standing up quickly. "No light sabers! No training! No academy!"

The three of them stared wide eyed at Carth, shocked by his out-burst.

"No. Just-just, no!" He stormed down the hallway calling back to them over his shoulder. "I-I need a minute alone. Just do your jedi… things…"

He slammed his bedroom door and slumped onto his bed, burying his face in his hands.

He was at breaking point and he knew it, he didn't know how much more he could take. "Screaming at your kid won't help anything, you bastard." He said to himself quietly and raked his fingers through his hair then shook his head helplessly. He wished he could take the harsh words back as soon as they had left his mouth…

He flopped onto his back and flung an arm over his closed eyes. "How could you let this happen?" He said at the ceiling and bit down on his lip.

For the first time since his wife had left him and their daughter, he was angry with her and he hated himself for it.

There was a light tapping on his door and he took no notice to it.

He heard the door open and felt a small body climb up the bed to snuggle against his chest, his arms automatically wrapped around his little girl.

"I'm sorry, Princess. I'm so sorry." Hot tears fell down his face as he spoke, he couldn't hold them back no matter how hard he had tried.

She stroked the tears from his face and gave his prickly cheek a kiss. "Don't cry." She begged quietly.

He couldn't believe how much she was reminding him of Scarrlet in that moment as she comforted him, he looked up at her, she looked just like her mother ( despite the fact that she had his eye color and nose shape ) hell, she even frowned the same way she does.

"I'm only upset with myself." He told her stroking a strand of hair out of her face then gently cupped the side of her face in his hand.

"Well, don't be." She said rubbing his rough hand and gave him a small smile.

Her heart-shaped face was so angelic, her eye-lashes touched her rosy cheeks every time she blinked. How did she grow up this quickly? She was only a few months old a while ago, back when he was the one comforting her, instead of she comforting him.

He couldn't help but smile back at her, he rubbed his face with his other hand "We should get back to your meditating, huh?"

"Only- only if you want me to." She said gently.

"Only if you want to." He stroked her rosy cheek with his thumb.

"Kay." She nodded and gave his hand a squeeze before she scooted off of the bed and walked back down the hall to go back to 'Master Shann' and Juhani.

He rubbed his eyes with a groan wishing that his daughter hadn't seen him crying and forced himself to get back onto his feet.

Since when was it her job to comfort him? He asked himself with a shake of his head.

His shoulders slumped. "Why can't things just be simple for us, again?" He asked and turned to follow his daughter out to the living room.

Adalia:

She doodled on the piece of paper in front of her as she sat alone at the short table with her classmates playing and talking around her but she wasn't paying any of them attention.

Pain, fear …. Pain, so much pain….

Adalias' body went limp and she flopped down onto the hard surface of the table.

Darkness…. Everything felt so dark….

Pain knotted in her stomach and a whimper escaped from her throat as tears flooded her eyes.

Darker…. Getting so much darker….

She felt as if the galaxy was trying to swallow her whole.

"Adalia!" Her teachers worried cries were way in the distance….

She felt the dark eating at her mind not leaving a single corner with light…

"H-hurts!" She wailed brokenly. "Hu-urts…"

The darkness was pulling her further and further away from reality until all of her senses had left her small body leaving her completely still…

Carth:

"What's going on?" Carth demanded as he barged into Adalia's hospital room to see his daughter sitting on the edge of a cot with a doctor hovering over her.

"Admiral!" The man turned to greet him.

"Hi, Daddy." Adalia waved at him with a loli-pop in between her fingers.

"What happened? Adalia, are you okay?" He pressed and walked over to her to rest his hand on her head as he examined her from head to toe.

"She gave everyone quite a scare, Sir." The doctor informed him. "She had spontaneously collapsed at school and I cannot find a single reason as to why that had happened. But as you can see her condition has improved." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Thank you." He told the man and he nodded in return.

"I'll leave you to some privacy" he turned to leave. "We would like to keep her over-night just in case."

Carth nodded and waited for him to leave.

"What happened?" He asked coming down on his knees in front of her to hold her chin in between his thumb and finger.

Her smile had slowly turned into a grimace and her dark, brown eyes were full of pain. "The- the bad feelings… It hurt, Daddy. It hurt me." She winced.

So many tears in such a short few months.

"Shh." Carth held her and soothingly rubbed her back as she wailed brokenly in his arms.

He was hurting her just as much as these 'visions' were by keeping her here and not sending her to Datooine with Bastila, where she belonged…

Carth felt tears sting at his own eyes as he held Adalia against his chest. "It's okay, Princess. Everything will be alright. I won't let it hurt you again." He promised and fought back the lump in his throat.

He held her closer as she sobbed, the tears finally spilling over his cheeks and he buried his face in his hair. "….okay…. Gonna be…. Okay…" He said brokenly as they held each other, never wanting to let go.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"That's not going to work for me." Carth argued firmly. "I need to see my daughter more than just once a month, Bastila. She's never even been away from me over night since the day she was born!" He complained, absently rubbing his sore back from sleeping in that hospital chair next to Adalia the previous night.

Bastila sighed over Carths' desk comm. "Admiral Onasi, I'm pushing things to the limits and beyond just for this to work out for you."

"Dammit woman, for the last time, call me CARTH." He demanded, irritation decorating his face.

She rolled her eyes "Okay 'Carth'." She shook her head and brought the calm mask back onto her pale face. "Once a month is the best that I can do Adm- Carth. I am sorry but you have to consider the circumstances. I don't even know how I am going to sneak you in or her out in the first place."

He swallowed hard and bit down on his lip, whatever is best for her, he told himself.

"It will work out, Carth I promise you that." She said reassuringly understanding the pain that he felt.

"Just tell me when and I'll be on my way." She said gently.

He nodded and rubbed his eyes "I-I still… Still need to tell her…" He admitted quietly.

"I see." She said quietly and felt uncomfortable as the Admiral went quiet. "Good-bye, Carth. The force be with you."

She disappeared from view and the comm went silent.

How could he bring himself to tell his little girl that he was sending her away? No. It's not like that, he fought with himself quietly as he sat at his desk ignoring the paper-work in front of him.

He rested his elbows on the desk and twisted his fingers painfully in his dark brown hair and groaned hating the silence that echoed through his office.

About an hour of self-loathing later his comm had buzzed and he answered. "What is it, Zerre?"

"Sir, you have a visitor who says they need to see you." She asked, he could hear a hint of bitterness in her voice. "Says her name is Terra." She said blankly.

Yes, send her in." He responded eagerly.

The exile had returned… With Scarrlet? He hoped desperately, calm down don't get your hopes up, he reminded himself.

He stared at Terra as she entered his office, waiting for her to say something but all he got was a nod of greeting.

"Well- did- did you?" He couldn't go any further, all he could do was eye the brown haired woman who stared back at him.

"Oh, yes. I've found her, Admiral." She confirmed and slumped down onto the chair that was on the opposite side of his desk and she absently tugged at a piece of hair that hung in her face.

"Where is she?" He almost yelled. "Is-is she here?" his eyes widened.

"Nope." She shrugged off his gaze and a small smile tugged at her red lips.

What the hell was up with her? He stared into her nearly black eyes. "Where is she?" He demanded. Wait, I thought her eyes were hazel, he thought and stared at her puzzled.

She waved her hand "Oh, off in the un-known regions, like you figured, but I was able to pin-point her location."

"Then what are you doing here?" He asked irritated and confused at the woman that sat across from him, something in the air just didn't feel right.

"Needed some fuel for the Hawk." She explained. "Filled it up and thought I would come and give you a heads up before we head out again."

The fuel had been off limits for everyone besides the Republic so how the hell did she…

"So I'll just go and find little miss Revan for you then." She said with a smug smile ignoring Carth's questioning gaze and stood up to leave.

The tension in the room could be cut through with a vibro-sword as they eyed each other, waiting for someone to make a move.

He didn't know how he could feel it but he just felt dark energy rolling off of her body as she stood in front of him with her lips turning into a sneer. A good person turning into a monster in a short period of time… It was all too familiar for him to stomach.

Carth's hand twitched for the blaster that was resting in its holster that rested against his thigh.

"I see." He said quietly his voice full of disgust and then there was a complete silence that entered the room as they eyed each other.

"I should be going now." She turned for the door with a sinister grin on her face.

He acted quickly, raising his blasters and pointed them at her back. "The hell you are-" He was cut off, Terra had acted faster, with a jerk of her hand Carth was thrown across the room to collide with the wall with a loud "Oomph" and a grunt of pain.

He held his throbbing shoulder, hoping it hadn't been dislocated and propped himself on his un-injured arm peering up at her with narrowed eyes.

Terra, enjoying the pain and anger rolling off of his bruised body had crouched over him with a smirk on her twisted face.

"Oh, our brave Admiral!" She cried in a mock cheer "You either are very stupid or someone has 'feelings' for the ex-Dark Lord."

"I won't let you touch her!" He snarled at the evil woman. He had to do something, he wasn't going to let her touch a hair on Revan's head, he'd die first.

Terra cackled. "Stupid and in love!" She declared setting a tight grip on Carths' jaw and switched on her light saber holding it close to Carths' neck. "Don't worry, Carth. I'll be sure to let Revan know that the republic is minus one Admiral."

Carth hit her wrist with the palm of his hand and kicked her leg out from under her sending her saber across the room and setting her momentarily off balance, just long enough for him to take advantage of.

He sprinted back to his desk and retrieved the double-bladed vibro sword he had stashed in the hidden compartment and dropped into a battle stance, facing Terra who had also regained her composure.

Light saber in hand she twirled it threateningly. "Alright maybe not too stupid…." She admitted and lunged to attack.

She wielded her light saber as Carth focused on blocking the deadly strokes of the powerful, orange weapon.

After what seemed like an eternity they had broken their spar to catch their breaths.

"This is getting boring." She said, faking a yawn and then waved her hand throwing Carth against the large glass window smacking his head, hard.

He groaned but didn't move, he felt warm blood trickle from his fore head and over his closed eye.

"You're a strong fighter, Admiral." She sneered standing over him "I see what Revan saw in you."

"Leave her…. Leave 'er …. Alone!" He growled struggling to get back up and find his fallen vibro sword again.

"Heh." She scoffed. "I admire your will, too bad I have to kill-" She was cut off.

"Daddy!" The shrill cry came from Adalia as she stood in the door way staring wide eyed at the horrific scene with Zerre standing behind her.

"Admiral!" The secretary gasped and tried to hide Adalia from view.

Terra stared at the child who had Carths' eyes and Scarrlets' features. "Tsk, tsk, tsk." She chided. "Revan and the Admiral got a little busy after you saved the galaxy, eh?" She asked very amused.

Carth was struggling to stay awake, he had to get up, he couldn't give into the pain. Adalia, Scarrlet, the two people who meant the most to him in the galaxy, they needed him.

Daddy, the sweet word had sent shocks of pain to his very core, he had to keep going for his daughter, his wife, his family.

"Get her out of here!" He yelled to Zerre who looked like he was going to faint from fear.

"No, Carth don't be rude. I'd love to meet Revan's 'daughter'." Terra said sweetly and gestured for her to come. "Bring her to me." She commanded and Zerres' eyes went dull and her face expressionless as she mindlessly dragged Adalia by the wrist towards them.

"No!" Carth grunted trying to stop the room from spinning as Adalia struggled against the secretary.

"Thank you." She waved her hand to Zerre. "Now back to work."

She mindlessly walked back out to the lobby leaving the three of them alone.

Terra smiled at the small girl's confusion and fear for her father. "Such a beautiful girl!" She complimented and her hand fell onto her black haired head. "And so strong in the force. Hmm. Just like her mother." She mused.

"Get your hands, ugh, off of her!" Carth winced at the pained and stared at his daughter with fear in his eyes but all he saw in her eyes was anger.

Adalia looked from her broken, bleeding father to Terra "You hurt my Daddy." She stated her tiny fists clenched.

"And I'm afraid I'll have to do more than that." She smirked at Adalia and pointed her saber to Carth who was attempting to sit up.

Adalia could feel her father's fear and then she was consumed with hate…. She let all of her anger go. "NO!" She shrieked and Carth watched as his desk was lifted off of the ground and was thrown at an un-expecting Terra, the blow had sent Terra straight on her back and the back fire made Adalia fall onto her backside.

Adalias' victory only lasted for five seconds when Terra had pounced back up to her feet and held her hand out towards Carth. "This is what happens when you cross me!" She snarled and shocks of blue lightning had exploded from her finger tips to collide with Carth's chest, then everything went dark, the last thing he remembered was the feeling of being burned alive and the terrified screams of Adalia….


	6. Taken

Adalia:

Daddy, she hurt my Daddy! Adalia sat on the uncomfortable cot, rubbing the tears away from her eyes and sniffling.

She had watched the sinister woman attack her father, she couldn't get his pained screams out of her head or the site of his blood smeared on his face.

"Daddy!" She had screamed helplessly and looked over to the woman. "Stop please, stop!" She cried digging her fingers into her skull and watched as Carth's body jerk uncontrollably against the shocks of lightning.

She dropped her hand and Carth's body went still, the brown haired woman looked at Adalia with false compassion in her dark, soulless eyes. "I'll leave your 'Daddy' alone," she smiled sweetly "if you come with me." She negotiated holding her hand out to her, gesturing for her to hold the black gloved weapon….

Adalia looked at her broken father and sighed quietly to see that his chest was still moving shallowly. "He'll be okay?" She asked fighting a lump in her throat.

"Mhmm." She stepped forward and came down to her knees to be at eye level with Adalia. "Only if you come with me." She stated and brushed Adalias' hair out of her face.

She cringed at the cold touch and shut her eyes tightly. "O-okay." She choked out.

"Good girl!" She praised and lifted her up into her arms and carried her away from her father's office.

"Be okay, Daddy. Be safe." She begged in her head hoping, praying that she was doing the right thing and her father would be okay like the woman had promised.

"Evening, Zerre." The woman said with a smirk to the secretary sitting at her desk staring blankly into space as drool dripped from the corner of her mouth.

They quickly made their escape to the docking bay and entered what looked like to be a very scarred battle ship that didn't look anything like the transportation shuttles she would take with her father.

"Hey, you're back-"a tall man with dark hair and an identical robes as the woman's had appeared from around the corner. "Who the hell did you kid-nap?" He asked alarmed as he eyed Adalia sitting on the woman's hip.

"Nabbed us a hostage." She shrugged and carried Adalia deeper into the ship until they stopped at a room with a cot and sat the child down on it.

"Why?" The man asked as he followed them. "Who is this kid?"

Adalia peered up at them as she rubbed her watering eyes, don't cry in front of them, she told herself, don't show any fear. She had learned that much from her father, never let the enemy know that you are afraid, she sat up straighter.

"Atton, I'll let you know everything…." She had a sinister grin on her face then gestured to Adalia. "In private. But for now if you get to the cockpit unless if you want republic loading up our ramps" She promised the man and his eyes widened.

"Fine, Terra. Geeze, sometimes I really wonder about you…." He trailed off as he walked away shaking his head.

Adalia watched Terra carefully as she sat on the bed next to her and looked her fiercely in the eye. "I trust we won't try anymore stunts while you're here." She said coldly. "I have many friends aboard who won't think twice about stopping you if you throw a desk at them."

Adalia nodded then stared blankly at the metal wall fighting the urge to let herself cry, she brought her knees up to her chest and buried her face against her leggings so she didn't have to look at Terra.

"Good." She said bleakly and stood to stand in the door way. "The refresher is across the hall but I don't want you wandering around."

Adalia waited to hear her footsteps fade away until she let her tears flow over and sobbed quietly to herself.

Hours later she went back to staring at the wall as she hugged the flat pillow off of the bed for support and fingered the necklace her father had given her on her birthday that clung to her skin.

She heard the door open behind her and felt a slight hesitation in the person standing in the hall. "Hello, I've brought some dinner for you." The unfamiliar voice with a slurred accent said quietly, she felt kindness in his presence but she didn't care.

The only person she wanted to see was her father so she continued to stare at the wall.

The man walked in with a bowl of something in his hands and looked down at her with a small smile on his face, he had a gentle look about him, his neatly combed hair was a shining blonde and glittering green eyes but what Adalia noticed the most was the subtle but calm feelings that rolled off of his tall muscled body.

"I thought you might want something to warm your stomach." He gave her a small shrug and offered the bowl of what looked like soup, to her.

Her stomach ached as the sweet smell filled her nostrils. "All I want is my Daddy." She said brokenly and tightened her grip on the pillow. "I just want to go home." Don't cry, don't cry, she chanted to herself as she felt tears sting her glittering brown eyes again.

He looked at her sadly then lowered the bowl onto the side table next to the bed. "I'm- I am sorry." Was all he could say.

Don't cry, don't cry, she chanted even as tears spilled over, sliding down her pale face and a sob caught in her throat.

Something in the man snapped, as if he couldn't bare the child's suffering and he sat down next to her resting a hand gently on her shoulder. "I'm sorry." He said again gently rubbing her arm, attempting to soothe the five-year-old.

She reached out to feel his thoughts and didn't sense any anger just confusion and…. compassion? Nevertheless, she couldn't trust him, he was friends with Terra and shouldn't be trusted.

Her sobs decreased to sniffles and hic-ups. "You do not need to be afraid of me." He stated gently after a few minutes, she could feel him reaching out to her the same way Master Shann had before.

Was he a jedi too? She looked up at him questioningly and rubbed her swollen eyes with her palms.

"My name is Mical." He smiled and held his hand out to her. "And yours would be?"

"Adalia, Adalia Onasi." She told him resting her hand in his, he shook it gently reaching into his vest with his other hand to retrieve a hanker-chief and gently dabbed both of her eyes.

He nodded. "You should eat, Adalia." He said, resting her hand back down into her lap giving her the tissue. "We won't be reaching out destination for a long while."

She nodded and smiled at him, deciding she should give into her growling belly.

"Disciple." They both turned to see a bright red haired woman with the same robes as Atton and Terra. "Terra wants to see you." She said then turned to look at Adalia as if she wanted to say something else but turned and left instead.

"I'll come to check on you later."Mical gave her a pat on the hand and a reassuring smile before he turned to follow the red haired woman, leaving Adalia alone with her own thoughts and a now cold bowl of soup.

Carth:

He watched Scarrlet sitting in her hospital bed as she breast-fed their new born baby for the first time with a lazy grin on his face.

He had held her hand through twenty-eight hours of painful labor and watched as their daughter had been brought into the world by the woman he loved, he couldn't have been happier when he heard his baby crying for the first time and Scarrlet sigh in relief.

She slept soundly now in her mother's arms with Carth standing at the foot of the bed patting Scarrlets' knee. "I'm so proud of you, Scarr." He said for the fifth time and she gave him a tired smile.

"She's so perfect, Carth." She looked like she was going to cry as her finger glided from the babes hand to her full, rosy cheek.

Carth sat down next to her on the bed and draped an arm around his wife. "She's as gorgeous as you, beautiful." He kissed her temple and gently stroked the soft skin of baby's arm.

It was nearly imposable for him to believe that the small child cocooned in the mint-green blankets was his child, their baby. "So, Adalia then?" He asked never removing his gaze from the small bundle.

She nodded. "Adalia Lynn Onasi," She confirmed proudly then rested her head against Carths' shoulder and yawned.

"I love you, Carth." She said after a few minutes of watching their daughter sleep, as they waited for the reality to set in that they were parents and that they had a baby girl to raise and love now.

"I love you too, I love both of you." His hand roved over Adalias' head of dark hair. "And I'm going to do things right this time…." He promised them and himself.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Admiral, Admiral Onasi!" The distressed voice sounded so far away…. "Sir you are going to be alright." The voice confirmed.

He tried to make his voice work but his body felt too heavy.

Adalia, where was his daughter?

His senses were slowly coming back to his numb body as bright lights nearly blinded him. He could hear a few people crowded around him but none of the words were making any sense to him and then he heard a very familiar. "Beep-Boop-Bweeeep!" And a small shock on his leg made everything clear to him again, especially the pain.

He wielded his eyes wildly around his office looking for a familiar face but all he saw were a few random TSF officers guarding him as a doctor- the same doctor that took care of Adalia the night before- flashed a light in his eyes and talked to him calmly.

"He's awake!" The doctor declared but Carth gave him no attention as he attempted to ask him questions.

Terra, had she escaped? He tried for his voice again but only felt his lips move.

He turned his head and saw a droid next to him. No. Not just any droid….

"T-3?" Carth gasped, his voice sounding as rough as he bet he looked.

"Admiral, please remain still! Your head is bleeding very severely." He heard the doctor say but none of them mattered, all he focused on was the small droid that chimed frantically.

"Bweep-dop-dwooo-bweep!" T-3 excitedly chirped loudly in Carths' ear.

Even though Carth could never understand a single word the bucket o' bolts uttered he was over joyed to see him there. The last time he had seen him he was taken with Scarrlet and H-K 47 to regions un-known…. Which the Hawk was still with the exile, a plan began to wield in his bleeding head.

His mind snapped back to the present when he felt the puddle of blood beneath his head. "Adalia." He mumbled looking back to the people crowding him. "Where is she?" He demanded, and despite the hands trying to keep him still he painfully sat up to discover his arm wrapped in gauze and felt the same fabric wrapped around his skull.

"Where is she?" He repeated frantically searching around his destroyed office.

"Sir, she wasn't here when we arrived-" One of the TSF officers informed, he had heard enough. He pulled himself off of the ground feeling his body protest painfully. "T-3" He panted to the droid. "I need your help."

T-3 chirped and spun in a circle more than eager to help.

He ignored the protests of the people behind him and walked past Zerre in the lobby as she attempted to beg for his forgiveness.

"Just like old times." He said flatly as the droid followed him down the hall, letting the familiarity set in.

Adalia:

Mical had kept his promise and came to check on Adalia a few hours later, he was glad to see that she was no longer crying and that most of her food was eaten.

"Good evening." He greeted her with a smile.

"Where are we going, Mical?" She asked as soon as he stepped into the room, apparently the time alone had given her courage and he respected that.

"I can honestly tell you that I have no idea where we are going." He admitted, Terra refused to explain her plan to him.

She looked at him with innocent yet bold eyes. "Why am I here?" She pressed on. "Why did Terra hurt my father?" She looked at him demanding answers.

He stared at the tiny girl. "How old are you?" He asked, she was acting way beyond her age.

She held up five fingers. "Why am I here?" She repeated stubbornly.

Mical shook his head and looked at her with a stressed expression, he couldn't possibly begin to explain to her how important she actually was, rather how important her parents were….

He peered outside the room then closed the door behind him and locked it behind him as he walked over to Adalia to kneel in front of her.

"Adalia." He started with a sigh and looked into her eyes. "You need to trust me okay? Now I know that you don't know me but I do know how strong you are in the force and I know that you can weed out liars easily so you know when I tell you the truth." He paused and watched her carefully. "You need to know, Adalia that I am on your side and that I have no intentions to bring you any distress."

She looked at him, confusion furrowing her brow. "If you are friends with Terra then how can you be?" She questioned.

Mical said in a whispered tone. "I know your Father, Adalia. I have worked for him, before I joined the Ebon Hawk crew. But I am with the republic still." He insisted

Her eyes widened. "You know my Da-" He cut her off by holding his index finger to her shell-pink lips.

"They cannot know of this." He said firmly gesturing to the door and she nodded. "And I apologize but you must stop asking questions and just trust me. Alright?"

She almost protested but closed her mouth and decided she wasn't going to be able to get out of this situation on her own… "Alright." She agreed with a nod.

"I promise to you, Adalia. I will not let anything happen to you while I am around." He gently tousled her snarled hair with a reassuring nod.

"Thank you." She said very grateful to be able to relax knowing that she had one friend in this unfriendly place. "Can-can I ask you one question?" She asked holding up one finger.

"What would that be?" He asked uncertain.

"Terra-Terra was…. Was talking about my- my mother." She mumbled. Every time she would ever question her father as to why she only had a daddy and not a mommy he would quickly change the subject and refused to answer her questions.

"I apologize but I cannot tell you anything about your mother, that-that is not in my authority…." He said gently.

"But you know her!" She stated nearly leaping off of the bed.

"I know of her but no I do not know her personally." He told her and she nodded silently.

He turned his head as if someone had called him. "I must go." He said standing up quickly. "It's very late you should get some sleep, Adalia." He turned to leave.

She was very tired and decided he was right. "Good night, Mical." She said sweetly to her new friend and kicked her boots off to crawl under the blankets.

He couldn't help but smile at the small girl. "Good night, Adalia. Sleep well child." There was an un-explainable responsibility that he felt this little girl that he had no connection to but maybe he didn't want to understand it and just go with what was the right thing to do.

He shut off the light and closed the door leaving Adalia alone in the dark room.

Sleep wasn't going to come easy to her and she decided to give up on trying after about an hour of lying in the empty room.

She got up to use the refresher but before she returned to her temporary room she saw the light on in a room down the hall and heard the familiar sound of a droid working busily.

She knew that she wasn't supposed to wander but she decided that she would take the chance of running into an unfriendly face and walked to the room quietly to peer inside.

She saw a rusty colored droid working over a large computer. "Statement: I do believe that the 'other' masters' off-spring is safe for the time being." The droid talked to the computer which responded with a "Dweep- bop-boop."

Adalia found that there was a very large threatening gun in the droids reach and decided to stay away from this room….

She walked aimlessly around the ship discovering many locked rooms that she could easily slice through, she fingered the bracelet around her wrist that Mission had made her, but didn't want to find out what was on the other side of them.

"-don't you think that this is risky at all?" She stopped by one of the locked doors to find at least two people inside arguing and it sounded like the dark haired man-Atton, and he obviously wasn't happy.

"Atton," She could easily tell that the other person was Terra. "She is going to be a vital part of the operation. I don't see why you have a problem with it. Besides…. We've both done worse things."

There was a pause and then heard Atton sigh heavily. "Do you have any idea how pissed Revan is going to be when she finds out we've got her kid? Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if she already knew!" He paced in the room.

"Mhmm. I'm hoping she'll be pissed." She said simply.

"What?" Atton gasped.

"I was only planning on killing her lover but obviously this is going to be much more interesting!" She cackled a fearful laugh.

"Damn, you play a very dangerous game, woman." Atton hissed. "I don't know why you have the urge to get yourself killed but why do you have to drag all of us with you?"

She jumped when she heard what sounded like skin smacking skin. "You have such little faith in me that you think I'm so stupid that I'm going in there on a whim? Do you understand how vulnerable she will be when she sees that I have her daughter under my saber? Do you understand how easy it will be to make her go dark side and try to kill me when I slit her little mistakes' throat?"

Adalia jumped back and smacked right into a hard body.

A large hand muffled her terrified squeal and was thrown over the shoulder of the full armored body of the stranger. "Shh." He snapped when she began to protest.

They entered the engine room and he dumped the girl down in the work bench. "You're really risking your skin, kid." He shook his masked head.

"Who are you?" She demanded staring wide eyed at the threatening man.

He leaned back to look the girl over. "Been a while since I've seen you, kid." He stated as he lifted his mask over his head to show the grayed hair and scarred face beneath.

Carth:

They couldn't have gotten too far yet he knew that much, he was only unconscious for ten, possibly fifteen minutes.

"T-3." Carth called over his shoulder to the droid working in the computer room. "Anything yet?" He sat in the cockpit of his ship the Raven Knight.

"Bweeep-dwoop-bwop." He chimmed and rolled over to the navi-computer punching in the Ebon Hawks' destination coordinates he got from H-k 47 ( Carth made a mental note to thank the annoying assassin droid later ) and Carth eyed the computer.

"Defiantly un-known regions." He said grimly. "It's going to take at least three days! That's even with hyper-drive." He groaned angrily.

His hand brushed against his bloody bandages on his fore head praying that he only had a mild concussion. "I need to go patch myself up, T-3 watch the controls."

The droid took his place and Carth walked down to his infirmary. "I'm coming for you." He said quietly when he was alone. "I'm coming for you…. I promised." He said quietly to the two people who meant the most to them as he examined his wounds.


End file.
